Plumblines #2

Plumbline #2: We Never Stop Learning

One of the things we say around here at The Summit Church is that we’ll learn from just about anybody. The reality is that a good leader is always learning. They are always open to the ideas of others and take their input with a generous spirit. Here at The Summit Church, we care deeply about creating a culture among our staff and within our ministries a culture of giving and receiving godly feedback. Without it, we’ll wither up and die.

How this Affects our Student Ministry:

We’re always praying and asking God to help us learn from others within our ministry and in other ministries around the country. God has really allowed me to learn from some great guys in ministry that have really helped shape the way we do ministry here with our students! (Brad Cooper, Clayton King,Matt Lawson,Brian Mills, the fellas out at Mars Hill, Chuck Thompson, Matt Rice, etc..) I’ve used some of the approaches these guys have taken to get a point across, to train my volunteers, to greet first time guests, and to connect with parents. Learn from others!

Learning from others produces self evaluation. When we learn from others, it often causes us to evaluate our programming, our strategies, our gifting, our passion, etc.

Replicating is not the same as Learning. Here’s where we get caught. We often try and rip things off from other churches because it “works” there. Learning from others is not carbon copying their ministry to yours. When you begin to replicate, you begin to rely on their godliness, their creativity, and their leadership to take your ministry to the next level and not the grace of God!